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There are few things in life that make you stop what you’re doing, stop what you’re thinking and change everything. For me that’s food. Eating it, cooking it, reading about it… it’s simply that thing that puts me in my happy place.

Truthfully, and without irony, I love food. I don’t have a favorite mealtime or favorite dish. I don’t even have that one dish that makes it all better. What flavors will excite me on any given day is a mystery. For a long time I thought that asking people what their favorite dish was would get me an in. I’d be one step ahead knowing that one dish that could cause mood changing, eye popping, and unending smiles. The reality is that it’s never about the dish. Food is the vessel that that carries our memories (Maybe that’s why I love food so much). The forgotten sensory sensation that ties emotion through our tastebuds.

Why do we eat turkey on Thanksgiving? I guess it’s partially because it’s what the Pilgrims ate it (although I’ve read they actually ate lobster and no turkey at all.) But mostly I think it’s based on tradition and the memories we have of that tradition. Did your mother dry the poor bird beyond the salvation of gravy? Maybe it was always filled with a bag of giblets, like a little turkey day gift from those thoughtful workers at Butterball. Whatever your memory is, now imagine Thanksgiving with a juicy bird, so perfectly cooked that it doesn’t even need salt. Well it sounds good to me, but it’s not quite what I remember as Thanksgiving.

This is why I love to cook. Because as a chef I make that connection between food and memories. I can somehow change the way people feel. Did I make an event special because my food was perfect. I sure hope so… but the truth is that the best food… even if it’s meant to be the star… sits quietly in the background. Modestly taking in the praise of the flavors and textures. Hoping that the post event conversation will include the buzz of fabulous food. And knowing that all in attendance shared the magic that something as simple as a meal can make.

Always thinking of the next meal (which I guess means the next memory)